Corn popping machine



Feb. 26, 1952 c. A. DONDANVILLE 2,586,923

CORN POPPING MACHINE Filed May 5,1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 I. I I I Fig.4.. /8

lig lllll IIIIIIIIII/IIII I I I I 1 I 1/ '74 Inventor i In lllllllllll((((( 70 Carroll A. Dandanw'l/e Feb. 26, 1952 Filed May 5, 1949 C. A. DONDANVILLE CORN POPPING MACHINE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Fig. 2.

Fig. 5.

Inventor Carroll A. Dondanw'l/e Patented Feb. 26, 1952 UNITED STATES 2,586,923, CO-RN IPORPING MACHINE Qar ofl Dood le, Ql i asal h Application May 5, 1949,- Serial-No. 91,48 1 1 Chin 92- 3%? This invention relates to newand useful improvements and structural. refinementsv in corn popping machines, particularly those intended for, large scale, commercial production. of popcorn, and the. principal object; of; the. invention is to enable the corn'popping operation to be enacte speedily, efliciently and conveniently in. large volumes, and with the expenditure of the minimum of effort on the part, of theoperator.

One of the primary features, of the invention involves the. provision of a. corn r ep acle mounted for tilting movement so that the popped corn. may be easily emp ied herefrom. o th r with a stationary heat producingun t d posed und r th corn r c ptacle, which u; it by virtue of its stationa y m u t n s minao h advan a e. o ha n to tilt the we ht f e nit con ent onal y ass t d th. t e r c ptac e.

Another featurev of the invention involves the Pro s o o a ro t e a itato in reoenta lfl an po a ed me s r rota n th sa e. together with a separable connection between the pow r m ns a he ag r to ac litate til n of the receptacle.

Some of the advantages of the invention reside in its simplicity of construction, in its convenient operation, and in its adaptability to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects and features in view and tures as may become apparent as this specification Plffloeeds, the invention consists essentially it e-cons ructi n and a ra g me o a ts as shown. n the ac om anyin d aw n s n Which;

Fi ur i a op an iew of th i vent-ion Fi ure Zis an end View t reof:

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 3-3 in Figure 1 Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 44 in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional detail showing the separable connection between the drive shaft and the agitator shaft used in the invention.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing the arrangement of a combined radial and end thrust bearing for the drive shaft.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional detail, taken substantially in the plane of the line 1-1 in Figure 1, and

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 88 in Figure 3.

Like characters of reference are used to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

such other objects and fea- Referring now to; theaccomnanying drawings in. detail, the-invention consists of acorn popping machinedesignatedJgenerally by the reference character Ill, the sameembodying in. its construe tion a box-shaped housing l2. having an. one: side. Mrand including abottom l 6, a pair of spaced side walls. 18 and a. top. 20,. the. latter prefei' .5.. being provided" with a recess. 2?: which extends inwardlyfrom the open side Id, as is. best. shQivn inFigure-l.

A. substantially circular corn receptacle-2d is provided in the housing lfieand isequipned t, ne side thereof with a. pairgof. horizontally aligned trunnionslfi which, in turn, are. rotatable in a pair of apertures 28. formed inthe housingwall l8, as is best shown in Figure. 1. The. trunnions 26 may be formedwith screwethreaded aperturestfl to. receive suitable screws 32. whereby'the. recep; tacle. is. prevented. from. shifting transversely in the. housing. l2, butispermitted to be tilted from the substantially. upright, normal position illustratedby full linesin Figures .1, Zand 3 to, a tilted or discharging position shown the, phantom line;3,4 inFigure 3.. It is'to be noted that. when the receptacle 24 is in its upright position, it. is disposed in the recess 22. of. the. housing top 20 butwhenit is tilted in the-directionof the arrow 36 in Figure 3, the receptacle projects outwardly through the. open side M of, the. housing.

The receptacle. is preferably provided with a. stationary, semi-circular top. 38to which is hinged as at 40, a.-. semivcircular, openable cover 52. j

The receptacle 2.4.isv provided substantially at the center thereof with: an inwardly extending, substantially tubular boss 46 in which is rotatably journaled an agitatorishaft48. The lower end portion of this shaft'is' diametrically reduced and projects outwardly through the bottom 50 of the receptacle 44, terminatin in a polygonal adapter portion 52, (see Figure 5).

An agitator assembly 54, simply assuming the form of a plurality of outstretched arms, configurated as shown in Figure 3, is secured to the upper end of the shaft 48 as at 54, it being apparent that when rotation is imparted to the shaft 48, the agitator assembly 54 will rotate in the receptacle 24 and thus prevent the corn therein from becoming burnt.

A transversely extending beam 56 is provided in the housing l2, being secured at the ends thereof to the side walls I 8 by suitable brackets 58, this beam providing a support for a housing 60 of an anti-friction bearing 62. This bearing is mounted upon a. substantially vertical drive shaft 64 which extends downwardly through an aperture 66 formed in the beam 56 and has a tapered lower extremity 68 disposed in a com bined radial and end thrust bearing in, (see Figure 6).

The bearing 10, in turn, is disposed in a mounting flange 12 secured to the bottom It of the housing I2, and it is to be noted that the drive shaft 64 carries a worm wheel 14 which is operatively engaged by a worm 16 secured to a horizontal counter-shaft 18. The countershaft I8 is operatively connected through the medium of a reduction gear box 80 to the armature shaft of a suitable electric motor 82 mounted on the bottom it of the housing l2, it being apparent from the foregoing that rotation of this motor will be transmitted by the shaft 18 and the associated gearing to the drive shaft 64.

The upper end portion of the drive shaft 64 assumes the form of a polygonal socket 84 which is adapted to receive the polygonal adapter portion 52 of the agitator shaft 48 when the receptacle 24 is in its normal, upright position, whereby rotation of the drive shaft 64 will be transmitted to the shaft 48 and to the agitator-.52, as will be clearly apparent. However, the drive connection 52, 84 is separable and conveniently facilitates tilting of the receptacle 24 when so desired. It is to be also observed that when the adapter portion 52 of the shaft 48 is seated in the socket 84 it constitutes what may be referredto as a stop or rest whereby the receptacle 24 is supported in its normal, upright position. I

The heat generator for popping the corn in the receptacle 24 may be actuated by electricity, gas or the like, and is preferably in the form of an annulus 86 supported by the aforementioned beam 56 and surrounding the housing 60 of the bearing 62. In this manner the heat producing unit is stationary and need not be elevated each time the receptacle 24 is tilted. The reference character 88 designates a conduit for supplying the heating agent to the generator while 90 indicates a valve or switch on the conduit, as the case may be.

Referring again to the top and cover for the receptacle 24, it is to be noted that a rigid bracket 92 extends upwardly from the top 38 at a point adjacent the hinge 40, and a handle 94 is pivoted at one end thereof to this bracket, as at 96.. The

handle 94 extends over the cover 42 and termi-'- nates at its remaining end in a hand grip 98, while a rigid finger Hi extends downwardly from an intermediate portion of the handle and is provided adjacent its lower end with a reduced neck- I02.

This neck is slidable in a slot Hi4 provided in the cover 42, and it will be apparent that when the entire receptacle 24 is tilted by pulling the handle 94 as at I06, the cover will be automatically opened, as indicated at I08. Similarly, when the receptacle is returned to its upright position, the cover will be automatically closed.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary. While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction. combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, claimed as new is:

In a corn popping machine, the combination of a normally upright receptacle mounted for forward tilting movement about a transverse horizontal axis, a top wall provided on the rear half portion of said receptable, the front half portion of the receptacle having an opening at the top thereof, a cover for said opening hinged at its rear edge to the front edge of said top wall, a forwardly projecting handle pivotally connected to said top wall for tilting the receptacle, and an what is operative connection between said handle and said cover whereby the cover is opened when the receptacle is tilted, said operative connection comprising a downwardly projecting finger provided intermediate the ends of said handle and formed at the opposite side edges of the lower end portion thereof with notches defining a sectionally reduced neck, said cover being provided with a forwardly and rearwardly extending slot, the lower end of said finger projecting through said cover and said neck being slidable in said slot whereby the finger is operatively connected to the cover.

CARROLL A. DONDANVILLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record'in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

